


West Gate

by Kassandraj



Category: Stargate Atlantis, The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, F/M, Gen, Post series West Wing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-28 22:52:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11427921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kassandraj/pseuds/Kassandraj
Summary: John Sheppard thought that he left his old life behind him when he joined the Atlantis expedition. The IOA has other ideas however; they want to send someone in for an independent review of the expedition. That he can handle, he always has in the past--the only problem this time is that the person they are sending happens to be his ex-wife.Eva Ryan did her job as a Senior aide to former President Jed Bartlett for eight years before she retired to a consulting job. Her new assignment: watch and review a civilian/military operation code named Atlantis. They fight aliens...in another galaxy. The military leader also just happens to be one Colonel Johnathan Sheppard--her ex-husband. They don't pay her enough for this.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I think that it is fairly obvious that I do not own any of the stuff that you recognize. Stargate and Stargate Atlantis belong to MGM and Sci-Fi (I will never call it SyFy), while the West Wing belongs to NBC/Universal.
> 
> I wrote this story years ago, when both shows were actually still on the air, but ended up publishing a different version on fanfic.net that I was never really happy with. I don't know if anyone actually reads Stargate Atlantis fanfic anymore, but I decided that it was time to get it up anyway.
> 
> If you have a background knowledge of both shows, this is going to make more sense to you but I think it can be read even if you don't. Have fun.

** CHAPTER 1 **

 

            John Sheppard was bored. For the past two hours he and other members of the Atlantis team had been sitting in the conference room of Stargate Command. He knew that General Landry was angry; the mere fact that he had been keeping them waiting for so long was testament to the fact. The General had been in his office for the past hour with Atlantis Commander Colonel Samantha Carter, loudly discussing the situation that currently had them sitting in the conference room like a bunch of naughty school children. John did not see what the big deal was—sure he and other Stargate Personnel from SG1 had gotten into a small altercation at one of the local bars, (he refused to call it a bar fight), but he just didn’t see why the General was so upset about it.

            It had started out simple enough. John, Sam, and Ronon had ventured to Earth earlier in the week; Sam and John had been there for conference with the General, and they decided to go ahead and bring Ronon along for the fun of it (that and John knew if he had left the man alone in Atlantis with Rodney McKay the scientist may not be alive when he returned) and Lorne had been on leave for the past two weeks. The night before John had determined that they needed to get off base for awhile and decided to take Ronon to one of the favorite hangouts for SGC personnel. Of course it had quickly become a rather large outing when Cameron Mitchell, the leader of SG1 found out. As soon as Cam joined them so did Teal’c, Daniel Jackson, Evan Lorne and Matthew Reynolds (commander of SG13). The large group did not concern Sheppard and the evening started out just fine. Their troubles came later that night after several pitchers of beer and the fact that both Ronon and Teal’c were present. One of the locals (also under excess amounts of alcohol) seemed to have a problem with Ronon, though what that problem was Sheppard had no idea. Before long the guy had thrown a punch at Ronon, who in return hit the guy back. The next thing John knew, the whole bar was involved in the fight and the local police department had been called. They had all been carted down to the police station where they were able to contact the SGC to let them know of the situation. An hour later they were being escorted out by a stunned looking Samantha Carter and several base SF’s who at least had the courtesy not to laugh while they escorted them back to the base.

            That was why they now found themselves waiting for General Landry to come in and yell at them. The door to the office opened and an irritated looking Hank Landry walked into the room.

            “SG1 you are dismissed for the time being…I will deal with you lot later,” Landry said. Mitchell and the rest of the guys did not need to be told twice and hightailed it out of the conference room at lightning speed.

            “Now, let us deal with our Atlantis personnel.”

            “Sir, I know that you are upset but I think you should now that it was all a misunderstanding,” Sheppard started.

            “Colonel, we have more important things to discuss than your little bar brawl last night, although you better not be thinking you are off the hook for it.  As Colonel Carter and I were discussing, I just spent most of the morning on the phone with the IOA. Our friends have decided to be bigger pains in the ass than they usually are. They seem to be under the impression that it is in the best interest of all involved that there be some kind of immediate oversight in Atlantis. They are not happy with having to wait weeks on end to get what they referred to as ‘second hand information on crappy decisions.’

            “Now before you start complaining, we did get lucky in this.”

            “How are we lucky to have some IOA lackey working in Atlantis?” Lorne asked.

            “Because it isn’t going to be some lackey as you so nicely put it. They have agreed that this representative be someone not related to either the military or the IOA. The person that they have decided upon does have prior knowledge of the Stargate Program, which ultimately means we will not have some complete idiot hovering around looking over your shoulders.”

            “I never hover General,” a voice said from the doorway.

            “Ms. Ryan, right on time. Everyone I would like you to meet the head of the committee that will be on Atlantis, Eva Ryan.”

            Everyone had turned in her direction upon hearing her voice. They stared at her in curiosity, but it was the reaction from Major Lorne that received the most attention. As soon as he had seen the blonde woman standing there he had jumped from his chair and stood at attention. Sheppard looked amused while Ronon looked downright confused.

            “That’s alright Major, you can sit down,” Eva said with a smile.

            “Yes ma’am,” he said as he took his seat.

            “I think we have had this discussion before Major Lorne…don’t call me ma’am.”

            “Yes ma’am,” Evan said with a smile of his own.

            As Eva took her seat at the table, to General Landry’s left and across from Sam, Ronon leaned over towards John.

            “What’s got Lorne all twisted up?”

            “It’s…complicated. She is some political bigwig that Lorne must have recognized.”

            “Is she that President person you guys are always talking about?”

            “Not quite big guy,” he said as he turned his attention back to the meeting.

            “As I am reasonably sure, many of you recognize Ms. Ryan. It was her former position that made her the perfect candidate for the job.”

            “The perfect candidate for the job? How is being a political aide supposed to help when it comes to working in Atlantis?” John asked.

            “I was more than a political aide Colonel Sheppard. For more than eight years I served as Special Political and Legislative Advisor to President Bartlett,” Eva said.

            “Plus anyone who can keep Josh Lyman in line is the right person for the job Colonel. She has the recommendation of two US Presidents, the Prime Minister of England and the Russian President. In fact she was the one person that they could all agree upon for the job,” General Landry said. “There is no arguing with this Colonel; Ms. Ryan is going to Atlantis. If you don’t like that than I am sure I can find you a position back here on Earth.” With that the General got up from his chair and headed to his office.

          “Well I hope you are up for a challenge Ms. Ryan,” John said as the rest of the group began to gather their things.

            “Oh, I adore a good challenge Colonel,” Eva said with a smile.

            “I’m sure you do. However Washington is going to seem kind of tame once you start dealing with a bunch of alien enemies who attempt to kick our asses every week.”

            “If you are referring to those life sucking Wraith that I have heard so much about, that is nothing new to me. I did spend eight years in the White House after all.”

            “Not quite the same.”

            “I disagree. Have you ever had to sit through a Congressional Committee meeting?” She deadpanned. “You don’t have to worry about me Colonel, I’m a big girl; I tie my own shoes and everything.”

            “I didn’t know that condescending bitch was now part of your resume Eva.”

            “Yeah, it went on it around the same time arrogant asshole was added to yours John.”

            “Are we back to first name basis now Eva? You did such a good job pretending that you didn’t know me when you walked in. And speaking of names, when did you go back to using Ryan?”

            “You didn’t honestly expect me to keep using Sheppard did you? Why would I ever want to keep a reminder of that part of my life?”

            “You are such a…”

            “TIME OUT!” Carter shouted, stopping the fight before it could get any worse. “Both of you back to your corners; now somebody better explain to me what the hell is going on.”

            “Eva and I…know each other,” John said.

            “That is putting it lightly John,” Sam said.

            “Alright, if you really want to know…Eva and I used to be married.”

            “She’s your ex-wife?” Ronon asked, remembering the conversation he and John had regarding the fact that the man had once been married.

            “Yes…we were married until John decided to be an ass and walk away from everything at the first sign of trouble.”

            “I was going through a hard time Eva.”

            “You weren’t the only one you jackass, I was there too. I tried to help you, but you pushed and pushed and refused to let me help. You were the one to walk out on us, not the other way around.”

            “If you had just kept out of it like I asked you to it would have been fine. You went behind my back and did the one thing that I specifically asked you not to.”

            “Was I just supposed to sit back and let the Air Force do what they wanted to? They were talking serious jail time; they wanted to make an example out of you because of who you were.”

            “No, they wanted to make an example out of me because of who I was married to. Instead now everyone thinks that I got away with it because of who you are.”

            “For your information John, I didn’t interfere. Neither did anyone else. We may have consulted with people, but it was never anything official.”

            “That didn’t matter. As soon as you put your nose into it they backed off so they didn’t piss off the President.”

            “The President never did anything…it was just me and Josh. It was Admiral Fitzwallace who went to bat for you. However, if you are unhappy with that I can always go back to the Secretary of the Air Force and tell them that you want to do that twenty years that they wanted you to do.”

            With that, Eva gathered her belongings and walked out the door leaving everyone staring at John.

            “Is this going to be a problem John?” Sam asked him.

            “No, not if I stay away from her,” John said. And with that confirmation Sam patted him on the shoulder and walked out of the room leaving John with Evan and Ronon. “You know, it’s kind of funny how things turn out,” he said more to himself than anyone else.

            “What do you mean?” Ronon asked.

            “We weren’t always like this. We actually kind of liked each other when we first met.”

            “How did you guys meet?” Lorne asked.

            “I did a stint at the White House. I thought that she was just another spoiled politician used to getting her own way.”

            “What changed?” Evan asked.

            “She threw up on my shoes,” John said with a laugh.

*****************************

Eight Years Previous….

_Major John Sheppard was just beginning the first day of his week long stint working in the White House. He had groaned when the assignment had come in because he did not want to spend a week fetching coffee for some General which was what he knew he was going to be doing. He had been greeted at the entrance of the West Wing by a young man who introduced himself as Charlie Young. John was then led through the White House until they reached the outer part of the Oval Office. He was directed to a chair and told that the President would be available in a few moments. It was all going well until a few minutes later, when they walked in._

_“I’m telling you Josh, everything is ready for tonight, so do me a favor and back off!”_

_“I’m sorry that I seem to be bothering you Eva, but do you remember what happened at our last State Dinner?”_

_“Oh, would you just get over that already? What is the likelihood of that happening again?” Eva asked._

_“Typically, not very likely; with you in charge I wouldn’t be willing to place any money on the chances.”_

_“Oh shut up Josh.”_

_“Make me Eva”_

_John sat there and stared as the two argued with one another. They didn’t seem to notice that there was anyone else in the room, so engrossed in their fight. Finally after a few moments Charlie came back into the room._

_“Alright, what are you two arguing over now?” Charlie asked._

_“Josh is being a pain in my ass, yet again. Will you please tell him to get off my back about this state dinner tonight?”_

_“And I’m just pointing out that she should probably go back and double check everything.”_

_“I have double checked it Josh! I’ve even triple checked it. Everything is going to be just fine.”_

_“That’s what you said last time Eva. Do you remember what happened? The President was left out of the seating chart and you threw up on Leo’s shoes.”_

_“Hey, I admit that I may have forgotten to put the President at a table, but what happened with Leo was not my fault. Who was the idiot who kept handing me glasses of champagne?”_

_“Will you two shut up? God, you guys are worse than me and my sister and she’s only fourteen. Now, Major Sheppard, the President is ready to see you.”_

_“Thank you Mr. Young.” With that John had left the two arguing staff members behind._

            _After his quick briefing with President Bartlett they headed down to the situation room where the Joint Chiefs were waiting for them. Also, to his surprise Eva was waiting too._

 

_“So what is going on Fitz?” Eva asked._

_“It doesn’t look good Eva,” Admiral Fitzwallace said._

_“Do we ever get any good news in this room?”_

_“Not really. Eva, I’d like you to meet Major Jonathan Sheppard; he’s here from the Pentagon to help us with this situation. Major Sheppard, this is Eva Ryan; she is President Bartlett’s special advisor, but she usually ends up doing everything else.”_

_“It’s a pleasure to meet you Major Sheppard.”_

_“Likewise Ms. Ryan.” John said._

_“Now, does someone want to tell me what is going on?”_

_“NATO command in Brussels says that one of our planes crashed south of Basra.” John informed her._

_“So, our guy is basically out in the middle of nowhere?”_

_“Correct. He was doing his usual run for the day. There weren’t any reports of him being fired upon or being engaged.”_

_“Major, why am I guessing that there is more to this than you are telling me?”_

_“There is a group of Iraqi soldiers ten miles away from the crash site.”_

_“So it’s only a matter of who gets there first—the Iraqi’s or our guys. That is just great. What is the best way to get there first?”_

_“I think a diplomatic way might be the easiest” said one of the Chiefs._

_“Diplomatic. Honey the last time I checked the Iraqi government was offering a sum of $14,000 for a captured US solider. I think that it might be best for our guy if we just go in there and get him.” Eva said._

_“I think it might be best to spend a few hours being diplomatic than engaging in a full out military rescue mission.” Stupid advisor, or Bill, said._

_“Tell you what Bill, lets drop you and one of our 45 million dollar airplanes into the middle of the desert with the Iraqi army ten miles out and well see if you still think that being diplomatic is the best thing to do.” Eva said. “We’re getting our guy out Phil. I’ll deal with the embassy later.”_

_“What’s his name?” Eva asked._

_“Excuse me ma’am?” John asked a little bewildered._

_“The pilot; what is his name?”_

_“Captain Scott Williams.” John replied._

_“Has he been with the Air Force for very long?”_

         _“About eight years ma’am; He joined right after high school and has been flying for about six years.”_

_“Damn it. I’m telling you right now Bill, if Fitz has to call that boys parents I swear to God that I am going to invade Baghdad.” With that Eva walked out of the room._           

_Later in the afternoon John found himself once again standing outside the oval office. The joint chiefs were still at work in the situation room, but they had sent John up to sit with the President. John didn’t think he had ever been so nervous before in his life._

_“Good afternoon sir” John said as he walked into the room._

_“Major; any news on our pilot yet?” President Bartlett asked._

_“No Sir. Admiral Fitzwallace said that they would send the call up here when they have word.”_

_“Good ,that’s good. So tell me Major, what do you think of Shenandoah?”_

_“The national park, sir?”_

_“Yes, the national park.”_

_“Haven’t been there sir.” John said a little bewildered at the Presidents line of talking._

_They were thankfully interrupted by a knock on the door. Before the President could respond Eva Ryan walked into the room._

_“Any news Sir?” she asked as she came into the room._

__“Not yet, they are going to call Major Sheppard here when they get word.”_ _

__“Do you mind if I wait here as well sir? I kind of dislike the situation room.”_ _

__“Not a problem Eva. In fact you can tell me what happened between Josh and the Vice President today. There seemed to be some sort of discussion of how our approval rate is going to bump up when we rescue our pilot.” Bartlett said, obviously unhappy._ _

__“Yes sir, I have already spoken to Josh about that.”_ _

__“I’m sure that you did.”_ _

__“I told him how displeased you would be if you found out he was talking politics at a time like this.”_ _

__“Did you beat him up?” the president asked, a little smile in his eye._ _

__“A little bit.”_ _

__They were interrupted when Charlie came back into the room and informed them that there was a call for Major Sheppard. John picked up the phone and started talking to whoever was on the other end._ _

__“Yes sir…I understand. Yes, I’ll let him know. Thank you.” John hung up the phone and then turned to the President. “Well sir, I have some good news. Captain Scott Williams is now safe and on his way to Tel Aviv.”_ _

__“Is he alright?”_ _

__“A sprained ankle, but other than that he appears fine.” John said._ _

__“Good to hear.” The President said and then turned back to John. “Do you have any plans tonight Major?”_ _

__“Plans sir?” John asked, slightly confused._ _

__“Yes, we are having a bit of a shin-dig here tonight and I would be honored if you would join us.”_ _

__“Thank you sir, that is quite an honor…” John started._ _

__“Great, Eva here will give you all the details.” And with that the President headed out of the room._  _

_Later that night John had once again been met at the door by Charlie Young. He was then led into the ballroom (there was no other way to describe the room in John’s opinion) where he found a plethora of senators and diplomats dressed in their finest. Once they were in the room Charlie gave him a quick look and then disappeared leaving John to fend for himself._

_It wasn’t long before he found her across the room. She was talking to some big-wig, John would have to guess senator, and she looked positively bored out of her mind. She looked in his direction and with a small smile excused herself from the conversation._

_“Good Evening Major Sheppard” Eva said as she came to stand beside him._

_“Ms. Ryan. I must say that I am surprised to see that you are willing to talk to little old me.” He said with a smile._

_“Please, you’re rescuing me from a slow painful death. Senator Colborn was driving me crazy.”_

_“So I’m your excuse to avoid boring politicians?”_

_“That a problem for you? If you’d like I could leave you here all by your lonesome and you can defend yourself from all the senators’ wives.”_

_“That’s alright, I don’t mind being used.” He suddenly faltered when she gave him a questioning look. “I mean I don’t mind you using me as an excuse to stay away from scary politicians. I’m just going to shut up now before I say something really stupid.”_

_“That might be a good idea. How about we go sit down for a while, I’m sure that if we hide in a corner we won’t have to deal with anyone.”_

_Upon John’s nod of approval Eva began to lead him over to a quite corner table well away from all the fanfare. John was surprised to see that the table was already occupied by several people, at least one of them he recognized. All of them were dressed in their formal wear, and all of them looked bored beyond belief._

_“Hey guys, I found this Air Force guy looking a little lost, so I kidnapped him.” Eva said as they sat down._

_“Now Eva, don’t you remember what Leo said about kidnapping people?” Toby Ziggler asked._

_“Don’t do it? But Toby, Leo takes all the fun out of things.” Eva whined mockingly._

_“Yes, well I think Leo’s method of thinking is that if he can’t have any fun then neither should anyone else.” Sam Seaborn said._

_“I take it that you guys don’t like these things?” John said with a grin._

_“That would be the understatement of the century” Josh said. “So how did you get sucked into attending this little shindig of ours?”_

_“The President told me to come” John said._

_“And you said okay?” Toby asked._

_“I couldn’t very well so no to the President of the United States.”_

_“Why not? I do it all the time” Eva said from behind her glass of champagne._

_“Yes, Eva is the master at telling the President no.”_

_“That’s very true; all you have to do is look at him and say ‘no sir’. He doesn’t like it, but you can say it to him.”_

_“Are you drunk Eva?” Sam asked._

_“I don’t know, am I?”_

_“She’s drunk” Sam and Josh said at the same time._

_“What are you guys doing over here?” Charlie asked as he came up to the table. “Don’t you guys have work to do?”_

_"Not tonight Charlie boy, we are hiding.” Eva said. “And if you were smart, you would too.”_

_“Who let her drink?” Charlie asked looking at everyone._

_“I did” Eva said with a smile. “I saw it, I wanted it, so I drank it.”_

_“Leo is going to kill you when he finds out.”_

_“Oh, tell that pain in my ass that his shoes are perfectly safe tonight.” Eva said._

_“I’ll do that, but by the way, the President wants to see you and Major Sheppard.”_

_“Oh, all right.” Eva said as they got up from the table._

_Charlie led them towards the President who by this point had sat down at his table along side his wife and his Chief of Staff Leo McGarry._

_“You wanted to ruin my fun, Sir?” Eva asked as they sat down at the table._

_“That was my main goal for the night Eva. Major Sheppard I would like to introduce you to my wife, Abigail Bartlett.”_

_“Ma’am, it is a pleasure to meet you.” John said._

_“How are you enjoying yourself tonight Major?” she asked him._

_“It has been quite…interesting ma’am.” John said with a quick look over towards Eva._

_“Yes, I bet it has been.” President Bartlett said. “Eva, I thought that you were no longer allowed to drink at these parties.”_

_“That is because Leo is still bitter about those shoes so he plans to suck all the fun out of my life.” Eva said._

_“Well, they were nice shoes. But you’re right, Leo does have a tendency to keep people from having fun. Look at me for instance; I was quite happy being retired, but he talked me into running for President.” Bartlett said with a look towards his friend._

_“You want me to bust his knees with a baseball bat?” Eva offered._

_“Nah, we’ll save that for a dull day.”_

_“All righty then. I think I am going back to my table.” Eva got up and started to walk off when the President stopped her._

_“Eva, I think your table is that way” he said pointing her in the opposite direction._

_“Right” she said as she turned around._

_“Major, if you would be so kind as to make sure she gets back without hurting anyone” Bartlett said._

_“Of course sir,” John said as he got up and took her by the arm._

_He had started to lead her back in the direction of the table, but she stopped him and said she wanted to go outside for some air. Following her directions, John led her out onto one of the patios away from the party. She turned to him to say something but couldn’t get the words out. Instead she promptly threw up on his shoes._

 

           


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Eva try to deal with having to work with each other, but even in a city as big as Atlantis, avoiding one another is not going to be possible. John finds out what a little bit of what has happened to his ex since he last saw her as well as her true purpose in the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember that I don't anything that you recognize. MGM, Sci-Fi, NBC and Universal own all the shows and I just decided to play in their sandbox.

CHAPTER 2

 

            All John could say was that he was very glad they were able to travel back via the gate. He wasn’t sure if he would have been able to handle being locked up for three weeks on the Daedalus where there was no where to really avoid Eva or his teammates questions. It had been a real shock when she had walked through those doors back at Stargate Command. When he had walked out on her six years ago he never thought that he would see her again. With her high profile position within the Bartlett administration it was very easy to keep tabs on her and what she was doing, but he never thought that seeing her in person again was a possibility. He had burned too many bridges, ended too many friendships when he had walked out on their brief marriage. When he had accepted the position in Atlantis he had considered it a fresh start, a second chance at a life that he thought that he had ruined when divorced his wife. On his few visits back home after they made contact with Earth again he had checked to see how things were going with Eva. He heard about President Bartlett’s disclosure of his Multiple Sclerosis, the Senate hearings that came after, Bartlett being re-elected and then finally her ‘retirement’ after the election of President Matthew Santos. Eva’s life had seen ups and downs, but had pretty much gone back to where it had been before their little trip down the aisle.

            They had been back on Atlantis for more than a week now and due to John’s considerable talent of being able to dodge people, he had only seen Eva once, and that was from a distance. Everyone on Atlantis was a little weary of her presence as gossip spread faster around here than the plague, and though no one went out of their way to avoid her they did tend to stay out of her way. Gossip was another thing that scared John right now, but was very happy to find out that other than Sam, Ronon and Lorne, no one knew of her connection to John. He was currently sitting in the cafeteria trying to enjoy his lunch and read over some reports when a tray slammed down next to him, and Ronon, Teyla and Rodney joined him.

            “Afternoon guys,” he said.

            “Hey,” Ronon said as he sat down and started eating his lunch.

            As John was acknowledging his teammates he noticed that the person he had been trying to avoid had just walked into the room.

            “Are you ever going to stop avoiding her?” Ronon asked.

            “I’m not avoiding her,” John said. At the look his friends gave him he continued “on purpose. Look, it’s kind of complicated.”

            “You mean with her being your ex-wife?” Ronon asked, oblivious to the look that Sheppard gave him.

            “I’m sorry, his what?” Rodney asked as he looked up from his lunch, for once too stunned to eat through a conversation.

            “His ex-wife,” Ronon replied as if this wasn’t news to everyone else at the table.

            “Hold on, you were married?” Rodney asked.

            “Yes Rodney, a long time ago.”

            “To her?” Rodney asked pointing across the room where Eva stood in line to get her lunch.

            “Yes Rodney, to Eva.”

            “Oh this just got a lot more frightening.”

            “What do you mean Rodney?” Teyla asked.

            “She makes all final decisions here on Atlantis now thanks to the IOA. If he pisses her off then we are all screwed.”

            “First of all she does not work for the IOA. Secondly, she does not make all the final decisions here either.”

            “Well, whatever; everyone knows that she is here to spy on us,” Rodney said.

            “She is not here to spy on us Rodney.”

            “Then why is she here?”

            “She is here…to…uh. Well, honestly I’m not too sure why she is here, but I know she is not here to spy on us.”

            “You’re sure?”

            “Yes Rodney. Now, can we drop this please?” John asked.

            “Yes, we can…oh no,” Rodney said as a look of horror happened upon his face.

            “What?” John asked, suddenly concerned for his friend.

            “She just sat down with Cadman. We are in serious trouble,” Rodney replied.

            John and everyone else at the table looked in the direction that Rodney was currently staring at. They saw that Eva had in fact sat down at the table as the one person who managed to annoy Rodney to no end for no other reason than existing, Lt. Laura Cadman. John had to laugh.

            “Come on Rodney, it isn’t that bad.”

            “Yes it is. Cadman was supposed to leave months ago and yet she is still here. Now she has made friends with your ex-wife who happens to be the person set out to help destroy us.”

            “Rodney, she is not here to destroy us. As for Cadman, I can’t believe you still let her get to you like that. Hasn’t this gone on long enough?”

            “Hasn’t what gone on long enough?”

            “You and Cadman,” John said. “It is time to get over this aversion of her. It wasn’t her fault that she got stuck in your head and now has an in-depth knowledge what the true Rodney McKay is like.”

            “I think he likes her,” Ronon said with a wicked grin.

            “I do not!” Rodney shouted loud enough to gather the attention of several people in the cafeteria, including the two women they were currently talking about.

            “Actually, I think Ronon has a point there. You and Cadman do act like a couple of school kids when you’re around one another. I’m just waiting for you to finally pull her hair and tell her how you really feel about her.”

            “Ha ha, laugh it up flyboy. Just don’t come crying to me when they blow something up.” And with that the disgruntled scientist got up from the table and headed back to his lab.

* * * * * *

            The next few weeks went by rather quickly and much to John’s annoyance he had yet to figure out what Eva’s agenda was here in Atlantis. He wasn’t sure why he was so curious but after that conversation in the cafeteria where Rodney had accused her of being a spy, the accusation had started to fester in his consciousness. He hated the fact that he didn’t know why she was here and he made it his new mission to discover the truth. The downside to that was that he would have to stop avoiding her and actually talk to her to do so.

            His mind was wondering as he walked down the hallway towards the transporter. He was sure that if he had been paying attention than he wouldn’t have been so surprised by the person who spoke to him once the doors on the transporter closed.

            “If I didn’t know any better I would think that you had been avoiding me,” Eva said while still looking down at the file she had in her hand.

            Startled, John finally came out of his wonderings and looked at her.

            “What would make you think that?”

            “Maybe the fact that you haven’t even said two words to me since I got here a month ago.”

            “I’ve been busy.”

            “I know, I read the reports.”

            “I see that you’ve made some friends,” he said trying desperately to change the subject.

            “Nice try John, but you are not going to change topics on me. Now, why have you been avoiding me?”

            “It’s…difficult seeing you here,” he said. At her look of confusion he went on. “I never thought that I would see you again, and here you are.”

            “You aren’t the only one who is surprised here John. When I took this job I didn’t know that you were involved. Believe me when I say that having to work with you is the last thing I wanted. But I think that it is in the best interest of everyone here if we just tried to get along.”

            Luckily for both of them the transporter chose that moment to stop and Eva got out without a second glance back at her ex.

 

***********

             After their conversation John had decided that Eva was right about it being in everyone’s best interest if he did try to get along with her. He still was not sure as to what her actual position in Atlantis was, but she didn’t seem to be getting in anyone’s way so he was happy to let it go. That was of course the plan, but as John had found out over the years things do not always go as planned.

            Three days after their encounter in the transporter, John was called into Colonel Carter’s office for a meeting. Apparently there was a planet with what Rodney considered to be an interesting artifact that he hoped would help in their battle against the Wraith. There was a slight problem with the plan though. The planet in question just happened to be in the middle of Wraith territory. John thought that the possible benefits out weighed the risks, but Sam thought it was still too risky. Her argument was that they were still relatively safe in their new location and the risk of changing that was too dangerous. While Sam knew that she was in charge and the final decision ultimately rested on her, she decided she wanted a second opinion and called in Eva. After hearing all the arguments for and against, Eva sided with Sam and said it was too risky. It was put into the official file that the mission would be scrubbed and then Sam headed down to the gate room in order to make their weekly dial in with Earth. Everyone else got up from their chairs and headed to the door; everyone that is except for John.

            “Is something the matter John?” Teyla asked when she noticed that the man had not moved from his spot.

            “I would say that there is. You see, I was told that Ms. Ryan was only here to act as some kind of liaison, to observe, yet her she is barley a month in and she is already making command decisions.”

            “Command decisions? Colonel I was asked to this meeting by both you and Colonel Carter to help make an impartial decision,” she said as she looked over at him from where she was gathering her notes. “What is really bothering you, the fact that I’m here or the fact that I sided with Carter?”

            “Oh, I have no problem with you siding with Colonel Carter; in fact I am used to you not siding with me. My problem is that I am not buying all this crap Landry was feeding us back on Earth.”

            “What do you think I am here for then John?”

            “There are several theories including the fact that you are here as a spy. However, I think that the real reason is pretty obvious. We are finally getting things under control and the IOA is insisting that it come under civilian control again, maybe one of their little lackeys.”

            “You think that I am here to take over? News flash Colonel, but the President happens to think that Atlantis should be a military operation. That is why I am here.”

            “Hang on, I’m a little lost here,” Rodney said.

            “President Santos understands that Atlantis, while mostly a scientific operation, belongs under the jurisdiction and command of military personnel. I am here to not only prove him right, but to help with the everyday problems that come up in order to give said military personnel more time to focus on their actual jobs rather than filing reports.”

            “So you are here…”

            “To make your life a little bit easier John. Now I am going to walk away before I say something I really want to and get myself into trouble. Rodney, Teyla, Ronon…have a great afternoon.”

            With that she walked out the door leaving the four members of SGA1 alone.

            “Well that was interesting,” Rodney said.

            “Don’t start Rodney,” John warned.

            “What? I didn’t say anything.”

            “You were going to though.”

            “I admit that I was going to say that you were being an incredible ass, but something tells me you already know that.”

            “Thanks Rodney,” John said rather sarcastically.

            “You’re welcome. Now if you will excuse me I need to get back to my lab. Maybe Zelenka and I can figure out a way to build our own ZPM’s or something.”

            “Just don’t blow the city up McKay,” John warned as the scientist walked out the door.

 

***********

           Within hours rumor of the argument had made its way around Atlantis. The next few days were uncomfortable for the senior members of the expedition especially during the morning briefings. John and Eva would sit as far away from each other as possible. The rest of his team tried to get him to make some kind of truce with her; they had no problem with her being there on Atlantis. In fact it seemed that they were actually spending time trying to get to know the woman a little better. She visited Rodney in his lab, something the scientist usually hates; Teyla and Ronon had joined Eva and Cadman for lunch the last two days getting to know both women better.

            About a week after the disagreement in Carter’s office, John walked into the cafeteria and noticed his team sitting at a table with Eva, Cadman and a young African American man. John got his lunch and, making a decision not to avoid them, walked over and asked to join them. He was greeted with a nod and took a seat next to Ronon.

            “John, this Charles Young. He just came over on the Daedalus this morning in order to help me for a while,” Eva said.

            “Yeah, I remember. Hey Charlie, how are you doing?” John asked.

            “I’m doing great, this place is beyond awesome. I feel like I am in a science fiction movie.”

            “This is science fiction Chuckles,” Eva said.

            “Chuckles?” Rodney questioned.

            “Charlie’s nickname.”

            “Yeah, thanks to Spunky over here,” Charlie said.

            “Chuckles? Spunky?” Rodney asked again.

            “Nicknames we received while we were working in the White House,” Charlie said. “It’s one of those inside jokes that has stuck with us over the years. On my first day of work I asked her question and she thought I was being a bit of a smartass. She replied by calling me a comedian and telling me that she was going to call me Chuckles from then on.”

            “And in return he told me that he would call me Spunky because I was…argumentative,” Eva finished.

            “That was putting it nicely. However I think we got lucky with our nicknames. Josh got stuck with Sparky and Sam got Spanky. And poor CJ, she was not happy at all with her nickname,” Charlie said.

            “Can I help it that she is so tall and skinny?” Eva asked.

            “No, but you probably could have found a better name than Flamingo for her,” Charlie said and the two of them started laughing hysterically. Then Charlie turned back to John.

            “So this is where you ended up then John?” Charlie asked.

            “Yeah, after I did a stint in Antarctica.”

            “So you know Colonel Sheppard?” Ronon asked.

            “We met at the White House. You could go as far as to say that I introduced them to each other,” Charlie said with a sly grin.

            “I don’t think you can take credit for it seeing as all you did was walk him into a room Chuckles,” Eva said.

            “Hey, I introduced you.”

            “Technically he did, Eva,” John said. “So I guess I do have you to thank for that oh so wonderful time in my life,” he said with a sarcastic smile.

            Eva looked at John like she wanted to kill him, and everyone else at the table had gone silent at his little remark. They knew that he meant it to be a joke but the way it had come out was definitely on the rude side.

            “If you will all excuse me, I need to get back to my office. Charlie, come see me once you get all settled in, okay?” Eva said as she got up from the table and walked out of the cafeteria.

            “Good going there,” Rodney said.

            “I didn’t mean it the way that it sounded, okay.”

            “It isn’t any of my business to tell you this, but I will because she is such a good friend John. It wasn’t easy for her after you walked out. She got a lot of flack for marrying you in the first place and then had to defend herself to the media after the divorce. Rumor started that the President pulled some strings to get you acquitted because of Eva,” Charlie said.

            “You know that’s not true.”

            “I know that, and I see that you finally realize that. But we were public enemy number one there for awhile what with everything that was going on. You were just one more piece of ammunition to use against her. She was dragged through the papers, her reputation was ruined.”

            “What are you talking about Charlie?” John asked.

            “You know that President Bartlett announced he has MS, right?” at the confirming nod Charlie continued. “Everything went to hell after that. People were indicted and brought before a congressional oversight committee. Eva was one of those people.”

            “Shit. Why Eva?”

            “She knew about his condition before any of the rest of us. She found out during the first campaign and someone who knew that let it slip to congress during the investigation. Congress accused her of withholding important information from the American People; they said that we had committed fraud against the country by not disclosing the fact that he was sick.”

            “What happened? I mean she’s here and not in jail.”

            “President Bartlett made a deal in order to save her and everyone else on the staff. He took the censure that Congress offered and apologized to the country; congress agreed not to pursue any other charges.”

            “And yet he not only managed to win re-election, but remains one of the most popular Presidents with the American people,” John said.

            “And still has the power to make your life a living hell if you ever hurt her again,” Charlie said.

            “Is that you talking Charlie, or Bartlett?” John asked.

            “That was a message I was asked to convey to you. He also said to remind you about Shenandoah, whatever that means.”

            “He promised to bury my body parts in Shenandoah National Park if I ever pissed him off.”

            “Don’t worry, he threatens everyone with that and as far as I know everyone is still accounted for. Besides, if he was actually going to do that to you, he would have done it years ago when he was truly pissed off at you. Now if you don’t mind I think I am going to go find my quarters.” And with that Charlie too left the table leaving only members of SGA1.

 

**************

            Things were quiet over the next few days. Charlie had settled down and he and Eva spent their days going over old mission reports and filling out paperwork. For that John was thankful; he would be the first to admit that having her here was nice if only for the fact that the amount of reports and requisitions that crossed his desk had dwindled to practically nothing, thus freeing him to do other things like actually spending time training some of the new recruits.

            Things were quiet until Wednesday. Usually the days melded together here in the Pegasus Galaxy and John rarely ever knew what day it was. But he would remember this Wednesday for the rest of his life, because this was the day where his life went to hell.

 

           

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things hit the fan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my sandbox, I just decided to play in it.

CHAPTER 3

 

            Wednesday had started out simple enough. John had done some training in the morning and then went to his office to write the mission report for PX8339 that Carter had been hounding him about for more than a week now. It was around 1400 hours when the Stargate activated and Major Lorne returned with his team. They had been visiting a village on a nearby planet attempting to negotiate some kind of trade agreement.

            “Major, how did everything go with the locals,” John asked when Lorne walked into the office.

            “Not so good sir. They are willing to negotiate some kind of agreement but refuse to do with us. They want someone who isn’t military to actually sit down with them.”

            “Okay, not a problem. We’ll just bring Eva or Charlie along and let them do it,” John said.

            “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Lorne asked.

            “The villagers are peaceful, right?” John watched as his second in command nodded his head. “Then I don’t think that there should be a problem bringing them.”

 

 

            Two hours later Eva was standing in the gate room along with SGA1. John had discussed the situation with both herself and Colonel Carter and it was agreed that it was best if Eva went along to help deal with the villagers. She would be playing the diplomat while John’s team would play detection detail. She had tried to joke around regarding the amount of security that would be going along, saying that she had survived back with one Secret Service Agent back on Earth. To which John had replied that they weren’t on Earth and to shut up.

            The planet was a typical one; surrounded by trees and farms it looked a lot like Earth. If it hadn’t been for the fact she just walked through the Stargate, Eva would have sworn she was in Vancouver or something similar. It took a good twenty minutes to get from the gate to the small village where they were to negotiate the trade agreement. They were greeted by a man who Lorne had spent a good part of the last week dealing with. They made their introductions to Elder Goran who then led them into meeting hall to get down to business.

            “Elder Goran, I came here in hopes of opening a trade agreement between our people,” Eva said.

            “I have consulted with the other Elders and I am saddened to say that an agreement between our people is not possible.”

            “Why not?” John asked.

            “You must understand, as I have explained to Major Lorne earlier our planet is a peaceful one. We are not a fighting people, rather we are simple farmers. For this reason we can not afford to make enemies with him.”

            “With who Goran?” Eva asked.

            “He has promised to spare our people,” Goran continued.

            “Who, Goran?” John asked as he became even more uncomfortable with the situation.

            “With me of course,” a voice said from the doorway.

            They all turned to see who had spoken.

            “Michael,” John said when he spotted the Wraith standing there.

            Everyone immediately went on the alert; Ronon and the rest pulled their weapons, but John however made the biggest mistake…drawing the Wraiths’ attention to Eva when he went to stand protectively in front of her. The next few moments went by quickly as Michael’s unseen companions drew fire and hit everyone with Wraith stunners. Fire was returned but John and his team was outnumbered and could not see where the shots were coming from. Within seconds everyone had hit the ground leaving only Michael and Eva standing in the room. Eva’s survival instinct kicked in and she looked for some kind of weapon to use. Unable to find one (except for things that she could throw at him which she did not think was a wise idea), she did the only thing she could think of, the one thing that the Secret Service had taught her during her years in the White House: run. She did not get very far, as Michael shook his head at her antics and then shot her too.

****************

            John woke to the groans of his other team members who were also beginning to wake. John looked around and could tell that several hours had passed as the sun was now beginning to set outside, which meant that they missed their designated check in time. He heard shouts outside indicating that Carter had sent backup when they had failed to make contact, and within minutes the door to the room opened and members of SGA2 walked in.

            “Colonel, are you alright? What happened?” Evan asked as he went to help the man up.

            “Michael was here waiting for us, we got ambushed.”

            “Michael? Why would he be here?”

            “I really don’t know,” John said. “Ronon, you guys okay?” he asked the rest of his team.

            “Yeah, we’re fine,” the man answered.

            “Colonel, where is Eva?” Lorne asked as he looked around the room.

            “What?” John asked his mind still a little fuzzy from the stunner.

            “Eva, she isn’t here. Was she in the room with you when Michael attacked?”

            “She was here,” John said as a feeling of dread washed over him. “I remember her being here. She was still standing as I hit the ground. Damn it, that means that Michael…”

            “Took her,” Rodney finished.

            “We’ll search the village first, maybe she’s hiding somewhere,” John started.

            “Sir, the village is gone. Everyone is gone, the buildings destroyed. There is no one here,” Evan said.

            “Damn.”

 

            They made their way back to Atlantis after spending an hour searching what was left of the village and the surrounding area. There was no sign of Eva which meant that Michael must have taken her. When they walked through the gate Sam was waiting for them wanting to find out what had caused them to miss their scheduled dial in. She was able to tell straight off that something was wrong, not just by the looks of despair on their faces but by the fact that they came back one person short.

            “What happened?” she asked as she ran down the stairs towards them.

            “We had a little bit of a run in with Michael,” John answered.

            “Damn; is everyone alright? Where’s Eva?”

            Sam’s question received silence for a few seconds. She looked at John’s face for some kind of indication as to what may have happened, but she already had a feeling as to what he was going to say.

            “Michael stunned us; when we woke up, Eva was gone.”

            “Gone?”

            “We searched the whole village, well what was left of it anyway. Michael did a bang up job at destroying it. No sign of Eva anywhere. Michael must have taken her with him.”

            “We’ll get her back John. I don’t care how long it takes, we will get her back,” Sam said.

            “You mean if Michael doesn’t kill her first, right?” John asked.

            “Let’s not think like that. We don’t leave anyone behind John, you know that. Why don’t you guys go get cleaned up, we’ll debrief in two hours.”

            John didn’t need to be told twice and before anyone could say anything else to him he had taken off towards his quarters.

 

            Later that evening after he had sat through the debriefing and everyone else in the city had gone to bed, John had headed down to the gym. He had not been able to sleep as images of what could be happening to Eva had been running through his head. He had started out by going for a run, hoping that it would help calm him down. When that had not worked he decided that spending an hour or two beating the crap out of the punching bag might do the trick. He had been at it for over an hour when the doors to the gym opened.

            “Are you imagining someone in particular?” the voice asked.

            John looked over towards the door and was surprised at who was standing there.

            “What do you want Charlie?”

            “I was just wondering who you were taking your aggravation out on there. You seem very serious about murdering that punching bag so I just had to wonder who you are really mad at, this Michael guy or yourself?”

            “Both actually,” was John’s reply. “I am mad at Michael for all the crap that he has put us through and especially for taking Eva. And I am mad at myself for letting it happen.”

            “How did you let it happen John? I read the report; you guys were taken by surprise and outnumbered. So you tell me how any of this is your fault.”

            “I could have put an end to all of this crap so many times by just killing the bastard. Do you know how many times we had the chance and I let it slip away?”

            “John I hate to break it to you, but you are not Superman. You are not going to get every bad guy, once in awhile someone is going to manage to get away from you. This Michael guy is your Lex Luthor. It is going to take some time, but you will get him in the end.”

            “You are such a geek Charlie. Come on, Superman? Are you honestly trying to use Superman to make me feel better?”

            “Maybe. Did it work?” Charlie asked.

            “A little,” John laughed.

            “You’ll get her back John.”

            “You sound so sure about that.”

            “Because I am; because I know that while you try to deny it, you still love her. Don’t try to argue with me,” Charlie said as John tried to protest. “She still loves you too. She has continued to defend you even after you divorced her and disappeared. There were a lot of people who couldn’t understand her continued loyalty to you, myself included. But I came to realize that she did it because she still loves you.

           “Dr. McKay told me what happened back on that planet. He said your first instinct, when you saw Michael, was not to draw your weapon but to put yourself between Eva and the line of fire. You can claim all you want that it was because she was the only one there without a weapon, but we both know you did it because you still love her too.”

            “When the hell did you get so smart? The Charlie Young I remember couldn’t even get up the nerve to ask a girl out.”

           “That **girl** just happened to be the daughter of the President of the United States—my boss. Besides, we are way past that now. Zoey and I are getting married this summer.”

            “Congratulations,” John said.

            “Thank you. Anyway, I came here with a purpose and I got a little sidetracked. I’m actually here to say goodbye.”

            “Goodbye?” John asked a little confused.

            “Yeah, Colonel Carter and I decided that it would be best if I returned to Earth to brief the President of the situation. I think it will also be better for Bartlett to hear it from me rather than anyone else.”

            “Good luck with that.”

            “Thanks, I think I am going to need all the luck I can get. He is very protective over all the former staffers, but he always considered Eva to be another daughter. From what I’ve been told he took to her straight away when he was introduced to her. Apparently the first thing she ever said to him was that he needed to shut up and let everyone do their jobs.

            “That doesn’t surprise me,” John said with a laugh.

            “Me neither,” Charlie said with a laugh of his own. “She was the first person other than Leo who had the guts to tell him off; it was practically love at first site. I think he would have legally adopted her if she hadn’t already been an adult.”

            Both Charlie and John shared a silent look as they remembered how close the former President and his advisor are with each other. Charlie was right, Jed Bartlett has treated Eva Ryan as his daughter rather than his employee from the day that they met; especially after finding out that Eva had been on her own since seventeen when her own father, who had raised her on his own, had died.

          “Bye John,” Charlie said one more time as he turned around and walked out the door.

********

            Two weeks. That was how long it had been since Eva had woken up on Michael’s ship. For two weeks it had been the same routine: she would wake up and have breakfast (she was rather surprised to find that there was actual food on the ship), wander around the ship for awhile and then taken to see Michael in his lab. The scary factor of the situation had passed very quickly, his threats of handing her over to his soldiers for ‘lunch’ if she didn’t cooperate held no fear anymore due to the fact that she knew he would never follow through. He would show her his many experiments and they would have small conversations for a few minutes before he finally got down to it and started asking her questions.

            It was all routine now, the same thing day after day. Michael knew that she would never answer his questions but continued the routine to see if it unnerved her at all. He was a little disappointed when he discovered he didn’t frighten her but also found it humorous. He thought that he frightened everyone, even his warrior wraiths were scared of him. If he was able to he probably would have laughed at the situation.

            Today was no different than the others except for the fact that when she went to breakfast Michael was there waiting for her. It had shocked her to discover that he could eat food unlike the other Wraith, but he had explained it as being a side effect of Dr. Beckett’s science experiment. She sat down next to him and began to eat. Neither said anything to the other, but Michael spent most of the time staring at her.

            “Why the hell are you staring at me?” she asked.

            “I was merely observing.”

            “Observing what?”

            “The puzzle that you present; you are not frightened of me,” he stated.

            “I told you that it takes a lot more than a talking catfish to scare me.”

            “Hah, yes; you insist on referring to me as that yet will not explain what it means.”

            “Colonel Sheppard never explained it to you?”

            “No he did not. Please, explain.”

            “Back home on Earth, which by the way I still will not tell you its location, we have an animal that resembles you. It’s a fish, something that some people consider to be tasty when it’s cooked.”

            “And we remind you of these fish?”

            “Yep.”

            “Very interesting.”

            “If you say so. Personally I find fish disgusting.”

            “I would be very much interested in seeing these catfish. Perhaps if you told me…”

            “Nice try buddy, but I am still not going to tell you where Earth is. In fact I probably couldn’t even if I decided I wanted to.”

            “Why not?”

            “For starters, I didn’t really pay attention during the astronomy portion of my science classes. Secondly, I don’t even know where the hell I am so I wouldn’t even have a reference point to start at.”

            “You are quiet entertaining Ms. Ryan.”

            “I’m glad I’m good for something. Now, since we know that there is no way in hell I will ever tell you what you want, do you think it might be possible for me to go back to Atlantis now?”

            “I’ve grown rather found of you Ms. Ryan. If I return you, who will keep me entertained?”

            “I’m sure you can find someone else to amuse you, however that isn’t part of my job description. So I ask again, can I go home please?”

            “I will think about it,” Michael said and went back to eating his meal.

 

***********

            John was frustrated. It had now been almost three weeks since Eva had disappeared and they were no closer to finding her. They had checked with all of their allies including their Wraith ‘friend’ Todd. No one had any information on the missing woman but all promised to keep an eye out. What bothered John even more was the fact that if she did manage to get away from Michael there was still no way for her to get herself back to Atlantis. No one had deemed it important to teach Eva the gate address for the city as she had never gone off world before. She would be stuck until someone finally found her. For that reason the teams had been making small missions everyday to various planets in hopes that they might find her there.

            John thought that finding Eva was going to be his biggest problem. That was of course until earlier that morning. He had been having breakfast with his team and Carter when the sound of the Stargate activating alerted them. Within moments he and Sam were being paged to the gate room. They were informed by the tech that they had an incoming call from Earth. Expecting to see General Landry on the other end they were even more surprised to see it was actually Joshua Lyman, Chief of Staff to President Santos and one of Eva’s closest friends.

            “This is Colonel Samantha Carter, how are you doing today Mr. Lyman?”

            “Things are a little hectic here. I was actually hoping to speak with Colonel Sheppard, is he around?”

            “He is standing right here with me sir.”

            “Good. So Sheppard, a little birdie came by and told me some interesting news. He said that you managed to loose Eva.”

            “There was an incident Josh. Eva was…taken.”

            “I suppose that she was taken by somebody with some sort of problem with you?”

            “Unfortunately half the people in this galaxy have a problem with me Josh.”

            “That doesn’t surprise me. It’s also not surprising how your carelessness has once again managed to get Eva into trouble,” Josh paused trying to get his anger in check. “How much longer is it going to take to get her back?”

            “We have no way of answering that; we don’t even know where Michael has taken her.”

            “Are you telling me that there is a possibility that you won’t be getting Eva back?”

            Sam and John looked at each other. Though they had known of the possibility from the start no one had wanted to say it out loud.

            “That is not an option that we are willing to look at right now Mr. Lyman,” Sam said.

            “But it is a possibility, isn’t it?”

            “Yes,” John whispered.

            “Look John, right now Charlie and I are the only ones who know about this. I will be telling President Santos this afternoon, but I am going to put off telling Bartlett—for now. I don’t think he can take it. But he is going to find out sooner or later as there is no way of keeping it from him forever. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you about the hell that is going to come down on this little expedition of yours once they both find out.

           “I’ll give you forty-eight hours; after that I won’t have any other choice but to tell him,” Josh said.

            With that the call ended leaving John and Sam standing there. They headed back to Sam’s office where they found the rest of his team waiting.

            “Well, that went rather well considering the situation,” John said.

            “You thought that went well?” Sam asked.

            “He didn’t hit me,” John said.

            “Yeah, that might have something to do with the fact that he is in another galaxy,” Rodney said from his seat.

            “Trust me Rodney, if he wanted to hit me bad enough he would have found a way. He is also doing us a favor by not telling Bartlett about it yet. If he knew, the entire marine corps would have already been sent through the gate.”

            “Well let’s hope that we catch a break soon. Dismissed.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things get better and we take a trip down memory lane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we all know what I am going to say, but I'll say it anyway: I don't own any of it.

CHAPTER 4

 

            It would be another two weeks before any of their recon work would pay off. It had been more than a month since Eva had been taken and they all knew that the more time that went by the chances of getting her back diminished greatly. They were now also on the shit list of two U.S. Presidents. As Josh had warned them he had informed President Santos and former President Bartlett of the situation. To say that the men were upset would have been the understatement of the millennium. Two days after they had spoken with Josh, two more messages from Earth had been delivered—one from each man. Neither man had yelled or screamed, but rather it was their quiet, calm tones that made their threats serious. John had the distinct feeling that by the time this situation was resolved he would busted back down to Airman Sheppard. President Santos had been the more understanding of the two, most likely due to the fact that he was a military man himself, but had still managed to put the fear of god into all of them. As for Bartlett…John decided that he would rather face an armada of hungry, pissed off Wraiths than have to face that man ever again.

            Things were beginning to look dim, but then one day they had received the news they had been waiting for. SGA2 had been on a mission, something that they could no longer avoid going on, when they had come across an unexpected but very happy surprise. They dialed Atlantis back and told them that Sheppard needed to get there ASAP. His team had been assembled within minutes and headed out to meet up with Lorne’s team. Expecting to see some kind of relic or a plethora of ZPM’s, they were shocked to see what had Lorne’s team so excited. John’s breath literally caught in his throat as he saw Eva sitting there with the other members of SGA2.

            “Eva?” John asked as he rushed over to her.

            “Hey John; It’s so good to see you guys again,” she said with a smile as he enveloped her in an embrace.

            “What…how…how did you get here?” he asked.

            “It’s kind of a long story, that I’m not sure I even understand. Another Wraith brought me here today. He called himself Todd and said to tell you that you’re even,” she said confused.

            “Todd?” he asked. “Did any of you guys see him?” John asked looking at the rest of the team.

            “No sir. We were walking along the path and then all of a sudden out of nowhere, there she was.” Lorne said.

            “He said that he had been looking for a way to return me and he had spotted Lorne’s team, so he dumped me here on the planet. I found them five minutes later.”

            “How did you get away from Michael?” John asked.

            “That is where it gets interesting; Why didn’t you ever tell me that the Wraith have a tendency to fight each other?”

 

_Michael’s Compound…two days ago_

_Eva had been in her room completely bored out of her mind. Things had changed for her in the past week or so. Michael finally figured out that she wasn’t going to be of any help, even if she did know the location of Earth or Atlantis. He obviously had grabbed the wrong person to get information from seeing as she knew nothing about what was going on. So, knowing that she had no real purpose for him any more he had revoked the privileges that he had given to her when he first brought her here. She was no longer allowed to wander around the facility, the only times she was allowed out of her room was at breakfast (where she still ate with him) and the occasional times he would still bring her into his lab for show and tell. Though he said he had no real use for her he still insisted on keeping her around for ‘entertainment’ purposes._

_She knew that she was going to go insane pretty soon…there was only so many times one could bang their head against the wall before doing actual damage. Just then there was a loud noise coming from somewhere in the compound, something that sounded like an explosion. Within moments her door opened and a Wraith entered the room. This one was not like the others that Michael kept around; while not having the human like features that Michael did, this one seemed more…human than the others did. He didn’t say anything, but rather grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the room. Everywhere around her there was chaos; explosions were going off and all the Wraith were fighting. Before she knew what going on she was beamed onboard a ship._

_“Are you the woman from Atlantis?” he asked._

_“Why do you want to know?” Eva asked cautiously._

_“I am an acquaintance of your Colonel Sheppard. He has been searching for you for quite a while.”_

_“You know Colonel Sheppard?”_

_“Yes; we have worked together many times though his friend Ronon would rather shoot me.”_

_“That is common with Ronon, but how can I really be sure about you?”_

_“We were once held prisoners together by a man named Kolya. During that time Colonel Sheppard told me how much he hated something called clowns.”_

_“Okay, so you do know John. What the hell is going on?”_

_“I have just rescued you from Michael,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world._

_“And now what happens? Are you going to hold me captive just like he did? Because if that’s your plan, I might as well just tell you now that I am not going to tell you anything.”_

_“My plan is to return you to your friends.”_

_“Just like that? Why?”_

_“I owe John Sheppard greatly. For that reason I will return you to him. I only ask that you relay a message to him; tell him...we’re even. He will understand what it means.”_

“And then this morning he beamed me down to the planet and I ran into Lorne,” Eva finished her story.

            “What about Michael, do you know what happened to him?” John asked.

            “No, but I doubt that he was able to survive, Todd said he destroyed the facility.”

            “Unfortunately that doesn’t mean that he didn’t get away,” John said with a frown. “For now though, how about we get you back to Atlantis. I know of at least two men back on Earth who will be very happy to hear that we have you back.”

            “What did Josh do?” she asked him already imagining what her best friend had done in her absence.

            “It’s not Josh that I am worried about, I can handle Josh Lyman. Rather it is the old scary guy who used to be the President who worries me.”

            “Jed Bartlett is a teddy bear, he would never hurt anyone.”

            “You keep telling yourself that Eva, but me, I am going to believe that he does have the ability to carry through on all his threats.”

            “Don’t worry…I’ll protect you,” Eva said with a grin as they started back towards the Stargate.

 

********************

            The journey home was quick and they soon found themselves standing back in Atlantis. Sam was up by the control console and was shocked when she saw that they had Eva with them. She had run quickly down the stairs to join the group. She looked at Sheppard and he promptly said he would explain everything later.

           

             Later in the evening, after debriefings and contacting Earth to let them know of her recovery, John walked into the infirmary. That had been the first stop for Eva after returning home and Dr. Keller decided to keep her overnight so she could get some rest.

            “How is she Doc?” John asked as he came to stand beside the doctor.

            “She seems to be alright; there are no injuries that I can see other than a few bruises but she said she received those this morning trying to hike to the gate. It isn’t her physical condition that concerns me though. I tried asking her a few questions but she didn’t feel like answering them. In fact she isn’t even talking. After all she has been through it would be normal to see some psychological side effects. Normally I would have insisted that she talk to someone right away but…”

            “We haven’t received Kate’s replacement yet,” John finished, automatically thinking about Dr. Kate Heightmeyer, who until her death a few weeks ago was Atlantis’ psychologist. 

            “Did Michael…do anything to her?” John asked.

            “No, there isn’t any evidence of any kind of abuse. It appears that he kept her well fed and taken care of.”

            “Remind me to nominate him for humanitarian of the year,” John said sarcastically.

            “You should go get some rest John.”

            “I want to stay, be here when she wakes up.”

            “Okay, but promise me that you will try to get some rest too.”

            “I will Jen,” he said and with that the doctor headed back to her office.

            John kept vigil at her bedside all through the night. He must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing he knew he was waking up to a sunlit room. When he sat up the first thing he really noticed was that Eva was already awake. She was staring at the wall straight ahead of and didn’t even acknowledge him when he came to her side; it was as if she didn’t even see him at all. John sat down on the bed next to her and grabbed her hand. This action seemed to snap her out of her stupor for as soon as he took her hand she jerked back in surprise.

            “It’s okay Eva; it’s me, John. Do you remember where you are?”

            She gave him a small nod in response to his question. It wasn’t the fact that she wasn’t talking that bothered him but rather the fact that as soon as she realized it was him she grabbed hold of his hand and held tightly as if trying to keep him there. Eva had never been a clingy person before. As long as he had known her she was independent, definitely not the type to need someone for security.

            “It’s okay Eva,” he said again. “I’m not going anywhere; I’ll stay right here.”

            She nodded again but the hold on his hand tightened. Knowing that there was nothing he could he really do for her he climbed up onto the bed and held her.

 

           

            Just as Keller had promised, Eva had been released from the infirmary later that morning. The doctor had insisted that Eva return to her rooms to get some more rest, but as soon as she was released she headed straight to her office. John had tried to convince her to follow Keller’s orders but Eva argued that she had a lot of work to catch up on. John didn’t want to fight with her and convinced that she would head to her quarters in a couple of hours. When he didn’t see her in the cafeteria at dinner time he chalked it up to her finally getting some sleep.

            After grabbing his food he headed over to sit with his team. Rodney was doing his usual—trying to eat and work on his computer at the same time; Ronon and Teyla were quietly talking and looked up at him when he sat down.

            “How come you didn’t grab Eva for dinner?” Rodney asked.

            “We were going to meet here for dinner unless she was sleeping. So, since she is not here I am assuming that she is back in her room getting the rest that Dr. Keller ordered.”

            “No she’s not. I just walked by her office and she was still in there,” Rodney said without looking up from his computer.

            Before they could say anything else John had already dropped his fork and was headed out of the room.

            It took him two minutes to jog up to her office and sure enough she was still sitting behind her desk reviewing files.

            “You plan on taking a break anytime soon?” he asked from the doorway.

            “No; I have a lot to catch up on John. You wouldn’t believe the amount of paperwork that accumulates in just a few short weeks.”

            “Have you been working all day?” he asked although he already knew the answer. “You need to give yourself a break Eva.”

            “I need to be here doing my job.”

            “Eva the world isn’t going to end if all of this sits on your desk for a couple more hours.”

            “Yes it will John. Maybe not in the way you’re thinking about, but if I stop working even for just a few moments it all ends for me. Working is the only thing keeping me from going insane right now.”

            “I know that forgetting about everything that happened sounds like a good idea, but it isn’t. You need to deal with this; ignoring it isn’t going to make it any better.”

            “That is exactly what I have to do,” she said calmly. “Once I start thinking about what has happened I won’t be able to stop. I don’t want to have to ‘deal’ with it as you so nicely put it. If you can’t accept that than I am sorry; but this is my choice.”

            John knew that arguing with her would be pointless. She had made up her mind and he knew from experience that there was no way of changing it. He wanted desperately to respect her wishes but he knew that if she didn’t try to deal with the situation it would destroy her.

            “Eva, you need to talk to someone about this. Trust me I know what you are going through right now. If you continue like this it will eat you up and destroy your life.”

            “Like you’re one to be giving me advice right now. Aren’t you the one who ended our marriage rather than ‘deal’ with your problem?” she asked snidely.

            Both of them were immediately thrown back to that day more than six years ago when everything had come to an end.

 

_Six years ago…_

_They had been married for almost four months. They had been pleasantly surprised when the news of their marriage hadn’t been talked about by the press, giving them time to their selves to get used to the idea of being married. John wouldn’t go so far as to say that things had been smooth sailing for them—far from it. It had taken time for them to get everything settled, to move apartments and get used to the fact that they did not live alone anymore. There had been several arguments, but none of them of any consequence (except for the fact that Eva would not allow him to hang his Johnny Cash poster in the bedroom). John had even gotten used to the fact that his wife would not be home at a decent hour every night, and Eva had gotten used to the fact that her husband could be posted somewhere at a moments notice. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked for them._

_Four months into the marriage John got notice that he was being assigned to Afghanistan. Trouble had been brewing there for quite some time and President Bartlett had finally given the approval to send troops in. Neither John nor Eva were happy about that, but they didn’t have much of a choice so John packed up and reported to his new base. Things were going good. John had found that several of his old buddies had been stationed there as well, and he and Eva talked whenever they could. Then, six weeks into his posting came the day that would have repercussions not only for John’s career, but his marriage as well._

_John had been flying the chopper that had gone in to retrieve some stranded soldiers, amongst them his two best comrades. His CO had denied his request to do it, ordering him back to the base instead. But John Sheppard was a man with one basic principal: never leave anyone behind. In the end it was no good, his friends were already dead when he got there. So he brought the bodies back to base and faced a seriously pissed off CO._

_Charges were brought up against him for his behavior and John was sent back state side to await trial. He brought all his bad feelings home with him—his dislike for his CO who had denied his early request to go after his friends, and his anger at the loss of his friends and now having to face charges. Adding onto that was the press; they had gotten wind of it and started talking about how his marriage with a high ranking Bartlett official could get the charges dropped. John was livid at the accusations. He flat out told Eva that the White House better not get involved. Eva, wanting to help her husband as much as she could, begged him to let her help. He said no, but she did it anyway._

_When the trial was over with, John was left with a slap on the wrist and a note in his file. Everything was going fine, he and Eva were working on things at home and John was going back to work. But then the press started following him and asking him questions. When one reporter asked him how he felt about his wife’s involvement with the trial, John had no idea what they were talking about. Then he found out. Apparently there had been many closed door meetings at the White House about his situation. Eva, Josh and many others had been meeting with his lawyer in order to find ways to get him out of trouble. John became livid and the fight that they had that night had been the nail in the coffin: their marriage was over._

_Eva had just returned home from a long day. John was sitting in the dark living room waiting for her._

_“How was your day?” John asked._

_“It was alright, a little busy. Apparently Toby was in a bad mood all day and you know what that means: when Toby is unhappy so is everyone else. How was your day?”_

_“Alright. I was at lunch today when the press followed me, again.”_

_“We knew that it would be awhile before they left you alone.”_

_“Yeah, I know. This one asked an interesting question though. He wanted to know how I felt about my wife and her co-workers having secret meetings with my attorney.”_

_“What are you talking about John?” Eva asked._

_“Don’t lie to me Eva. I talked to Will today and he confirmed those meetings.” John said, recalling his conversation with his attorney earlier that day._

_“John…”_

_“What was the only thing I asked you Eva? I told you that I didn’t want the White House involved in this.”_

_“John, let me explain.”_

_“Explain what Eva? That you lied to me? That you went behind my back and did this? Do you have any idea the rumors that are being spread around right now? They are saying that the only reason I’m not sitting in some military prison is that the President made them go easy on me.”_

_“That’s not true John. The president was not involved in any way.”_

_“But you were! I thought that I could trust you to do one thing for me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be married to you? People have been saying from day one that I was getting special attention from the White House because of my wife. Now they are saying that I got out of trouble because of you too.”_

_“What was I supposed to do John? You were in serious trouble. I didn’t want you to go to jail. If that meant doing the one thing that I knew you would hate I had to do it. I didn’t go behind your back to spite you John, I did it because I love you.”_

_“And it taught me something too. I can’t trust you Eva.”_

_“Is that what you think?”  
            “It’s what I know. You went behind my back this time, who’s to say that it hasn’t happened before or it won’t happen again?”_

_“John…”_

_“No, I don’t want to hear anymore excuses Eva. I’m done.”_

_“What does that mean?”_

_“I don’t know. I just can’t be here with you anymore.”_

_Eva stood there shocked as John picked up a small bag and walked out the door._

_She didn’t hear anything from John for three days. He wouldn’t answer his cell phone, didn’t return any of her messages. She knew from the secret service that he was alright; he had checked himself into a hotel. Three days after he had walked out the door Eva had come home to find John’s closet emptied and divorce papers sitting on the bed. It was official: John and Eva were over._

_Their divorce was final three months later. In that time Eva had not seen or heard from John. She found out through official channels that he had voluntarily taken a posting in Antarctica, shuttling scientists and military officials back and forth to the ancient outpost. When word came that he had accepted Dr. Weir’s offer to go to Atlantis Eva knew that he was trying to get as far from her as possible; and to do that he felt he needed to leave the planet. She didn’t have time to think about that, as she had much bigger things to deal with. President Bartlett had just announced that he had Multiple Sclerosis, and that he planned on running for reelection. She had to put John Sheppard as far in the back of his mind as possible._

 

            “There hasn’t been a day since then that I haven’t regretted that decision,” John whispered.

            “If that was your example of how keeping things bottled up can ruin your life, don’t worry John. I don’t have anyone to divorce.”

            “Eva, come on. I can’t stand seeing you like this.”

            “You won’t have to worry about that much longer. Colonel Carter came by this afternoon and informed me that they are requesting I return to Earth tomorrow morning.”

            “They’re sending you home?”

            “Yeah; apparently there are a couple of pains in my ass back home who think it would be best if I came back.”

            “Eva, maybe this is a good thing. You have family there who can help.”

            “What if I don’t want to go?”

            “I’ve never known you to refuse Jed Bartlett,” John said with a laugh.

            “I’m the only person to ever say no to him, except for Abby maybe.”

            “If you really want to be here, then I’m sure you can come back.” At her skeptical look he continued, “Go home, make the man happy and then get your butt back here. And if he gives you any trouble, just remember that your like thirty years younger than him; I think you could take him.”

            “And what about the five or six Secret Service Agents that he still has?”

            “If you have problems give us a call—I’ll send Ronon in for backup.”

            “Sounds like a plan,” Eva said, finally giving John a smile.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we come full circle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> None of the recognizable stuff is mine, but I had a lot of fun playing with it.

CHAPTER 5

 

            The following morning Eva had returned home to Earth. Everyone was in the gate room waiting to say goodbye. Eva was still protesting the decision of sending her back and Laura Cadman, who had become a very good friend during the time Eva was in Atlantis, told her that the city was big enough for her to get ‘lost’ in by accident. They started laughing but quickly stopped when they figured out that the explosives expert was serious. When John nixed that plan the woman quickly asked permission to accompany Eva.  That too was denied and after having to pry the marine off Eva, John walked her down to the gate. He felt bad about sending her back where he couldn’t be there to help her but he had been assured by messages from both General O’Neill and Josh Lyman that she would be well taken care of.

            That had been more than a month ago and John had yet to hear anything from or about Eva. He asked about her every week during their scheduled dial ins but General Landry gave him the same answer every time: that information was slow concerning her. He sent her emails and letters every week during the data bursts but those had gone unreturned. Wanting to hear anything he had even gone to Cadman incase she had from Eva. That, however, was a dead-end as well, as the concerned marine had yet to hear anything either. The situation was driving John crazy; he was very moody and snapped at everyone. His team, knowing what was really bothering him, ignored his orders of leaving him alone and dragged him everywhere with them. They all knew that John wished he was somewhere else, that for the first time in four years he wished he wasn’t in Atlantis. Sure there had been times when their enemies were upon them that John joked about how he should have taken the day off, but everyone knew he was joking. Now it was quiet clear where he wanted to be, and it wasn’t here on Atlantis.

            It would be a full four weeks before John would hear anything about Eva, and when word came in it wasn’t from the people who promised to keep him in the loop but rather from Laura Cadman. Cadman had returned to Earth the week before for her scheduled annual leave. As far as John knew, the woman had been planning on going home to see her family but he wasn’t surprised to find that she had made her way to Eva. The Lt. had sent a message in the weekly data burst and she was clearly concerned about her friend. She advised that John get his butt to New Hampshire as fast as possible. He hadn’t needed to be told twice and, seeing as General Landry had also sent his authorization for him to return, John had quickly packed a bag. When he got back to the gate room he wasn’t really surprised to see that the rest of his team was ready to go with him.

 

********************

            New Hampshire was an experience all on its own. It was the beginning of November and the leaves were just beginning to change colors and the temperature was dropping. When their plane had landed at the airport six hours after departing Atlantis, there had been a rather large man waiting for them at the terminal. John had immediately pegged him for Secret Service—it was obvious seeing as the man was dressed in all black and the tell tale ear piece. The man didn’t say anything other than to follow him out to the car, the non descriptive black SUV (lucky for them they didn’t have any bags to collect as their carry-ons were their only items). John had been up to the Bartlett farm on several occasions while he had been married to Eva, but the drive had never seemed so long before.

            Before long they were pulling up to the house. They passed numerous security checkpoints before finally pulling up to the house. The sound of the car doors closing must have alerted those in the house of their arrival because no sooner had John closed his door than the front door of the house opened. The man who exited needed no introduction, except to maybe Ronon and Teyla. Jed Bartlett, Nobel Prize Winner Doctor of Economics and former President of the United States now stood on his porch staring down at the new arrivals. He was an intimidating man despite his short stature, something John knew through first hand experience.

            “Here it goes,” John muttered to himself. “Hello Sir.”

            “John,” he said. Then turning to the others, “You must be Dr. McKay, Ronon Dex, and Teyla Emmagan. I have heard a lot about all of you.”

            “It is an honor to meet you,” Teyla said.

            “Why don’t you all get out of this cold? There are plenty of other people inside as well as some nice hot coffee.” President Bartlett indicated for them to all head inside and with a nod of thanks Teyla led the way.

            “Could we have a moment, John,” he asked. The others looked at John; obviously they wanted to stay and support him but were unsure how that would go over with the other man. John nodded his head and indicated for them to head on in.

            “What can I do for you sir?” John asked.

            “Let’s put all the formalities aside for a moment. Forget that I have the ability of making sure you spend out the rest of your career in some godforsaken frozen tundra and let’s pretend we are simply two men having a conversation. Can we do that?”

            “Yes,” John answered a little confused.

            “Good. Do you remember that nice conversation we had shortly after you and Eva decided to run off and get married?”

            “I vaguely remember that there may have been something about how large Shenandoah National Park is and that no one would ever find my body.”

            “You were paying attention.”

            “Look Sir, with all respect, I do take full responsibility for what happened and I don’t need you to rake me over the coals for it,” John said.

            “I gather that you are under the impression that I am mad with you?” he asked. When John kind of nodded to confirm he went on. “Damn right I’m mad at you. You failed at keeping her safe. There were only two things that I ever asked of you—to keep her safe and make her happy. You failed on both counts.”

            “I know that.”

            “I’m sure you do. You know I consider that girl as part of my family; she is practically another daughter to me. She has been through hell over the past few years since she met you. It took a long time after you left to get her back to her old self, and even that wasn’t the girl that I knew. I will admit that I was not happy about the idea of sending her anywhere within twenty miles of you, but I also knew that she was the perfect person for the job which was why I recommended her for it. Now I am afraid that you are in the position to break her heart all over again and I don’t like it.”

            “I can come up with excuses until I am blue in the face but when it all comes down to it I took the cowards’ way out. All she was trying to do was help me and I let my pride take over. I couldn’t handle the accusation that my wife was the reason that I wasn’t spending time in some military prison. Rather than talking to her I walked out on the best thing in my life. If I could change anything it would be that moment I walked out.”

“I believe that, if not for your sincerity, then because for some strange reason she still needs you. She has been spending a lot of time with Stanley Keyworth; he’s the psychiatrist that has spent some time with members of my former staff. Eva knows him pretty well and he has managed to get her talking about everything that happened. He wouldn’t go into detail about what they talked about—no matter how much I threatened him—but he told me some stuff. He seems to be under some strange impression that having you here can help her.

            “So, no matter what I think, if this is going to help her than I’m all for it. But I am warning you, you hurt her again…”

            “And I will forever be living in some frozen wasteland with only a polar bear for company,” John finished.

            “That or they will be finding pieces of you around various national parks. So you understand me then?” He saw John nod in understanding. “Now, before we go on can I get you to explain one thing to me?” he asked. “Can you please tell me the significance of the catfish?”

            “Catfish, sir?” John asked not sure if he really wanted clarification.

            “Yes, catfish. Stanley suggested some aggression therapy and, much to the amusement of that rather entertaining marine who has come to visit, Eva has been beating the hell out of catfish for the past three days. She and Laura went into town, bought a ton of catfish and then started smashing them with a hammer. They were having so much fun with it that they kept going back for more fish. The Secret Service however, put a stop to it when they had to have a very long discussion with the ever so enchanting Lieutenant that even though she is a high energy explosive expert, there was no circumstances in which she would be allowed to bring any C4 onto the property.”

            “Please tell me you’re joking?” John asked, fear gripping him.

            “Not even a little. She asked the head of my detail if she could have some shipped in since he didn’t keep any on hand. Near bout gave him a heart attack. I think I like her,” the former President said with a smile.

            “Good God, your going to adopt her too, aren’t you?” John asked. The man gave no reply other than the smile he was giving John. “You already have three daughters of your own, plus Eva.”

            “So what’s one more?” the man asked. “Back to the topic at hand; what is with the catfish?”

            “It’s simple, really; the, huh, aliens that kidnapped her kind look like giant catfish.”

            “Really?” the former president asked in astonishment.

            “Yeah, some of them even have the whiskers.”

            “That is very interesting…and yet explains so much of the last few days.”

            “As great as this has been, can we possibly go inside now…where there are witnesses?” John asked.

 

************************

            They entered the house and followed the noise towards the kitchen. There he found his teammates embroiled in a conversation with Charlie, Zoey Bartlett and Laura Cadman. Rodney, sitting next to the young marine looked slightly uncomfortable at the situation and John had to give a laugh. He saw Abby Bartlett standing at the counter preparing lunch, and he cringed. If there was one thing he feared more than Jed Bartlett it was the mans’ wife. While she was typically the calm one in the marriage she did have the ability of scaring the life out of the bravest man. He was surprised however when instead of yelling at him, she simply handed him a glace of lemonade…which she followed up with a slap on the back of his head when he turned back towards the table.

            “So…what are we all talking about?” John asked, rubbing his head.

            “Oh, nothing as interesting as your conversation I’m sure,” Zoey said with a smirk.

            “Oh, ha ha; I have forgotten how funny you can be Zoey.”

            “And I have forgotten how funny looking you are John,” she smiled. “Still haven’t figured out how to comb your hair?”

            Deciding to ignore her, he instead turned his attention to the others at the table. “Cadman, why am I not surprised to see you here? I was under the impression you had gone to visit your parents.”

            “Yeah, well I was raised in California but I’ve never seen New Hampshire. Plus, I still have another week to make an appearance.”

            “Thank you for being here for her,” John said sincerely.

            “No problem boss man,” she said with a smile.

            “How is she doing?”

            “She is a lot better than she was when she got here last month,” Abby said. “She refused to talk to anyone and was extremely pissed off at being brought home. Jed finally arranged for Stanley to come see her last week when we couldn’t make any headway. The first day all they did was sit in the other room and stare at each other for five hours. Now that she is talking though, she has gotten a lot better.”

            “You all wouldn’t be talking about me now would you?” Eva asked as she walked into the room. Right off they noticed that she didn’t have that sad look on her face that she did those last few hours on Atlantis, but rather wore a bright smile. Even her voice seemed to have more life in it.

            “Of course we are,” Laura said.

            “I was just about to tell them about the time that you and I went to that Bon Jovi concert…” Zoey said.

            “Don’t you dare Zoey Bartlett!”

            “I’m only kidding Eva.”

            “You better be or I will be more than happy to tell your mom and dad about a certain party at a fraternity house…” Eva threatened which promptly removed the smile on the younger girls’ face at the questioning look of her parents.

            “Alright children, that’s enough,” Abby said putting an end to their playful bantering.

            “Ah, the stories of our misspent youth,” Jed Bartlett said.

**********

            Hours later after a very entertaining dinner in which Jed Bartlett regaled them with numerous stories and trivia, John led Eva outside for a walk around the property. Both knew that they had things to talk about and it was something that needed to be done without being watched by everyone else that was in the house. They walked silently down the driveway until they came to the trail that led into the apple orchards that lined the majority of the property.

            “So,” John started once he could no longer take the silence. “Rumor has it that you are getting better.”

            “Getting there,” Eva said. “Truthfully, I am a lot better than I was when I got here. I was against the whole idea of therapy when they suggested it, told them that there was nothing wrong with me. The first day that Stanley came up here it was five hours of him talking and me just staring at him in silent resentment.”

            “That sounds vaguely familiar,” John said. “The silent treatment always was your favorite weapon of choice when you were forced to do something you didn’t like.”

            “After a few days I finally decided to work with him. I still have a long way to go, but the nightmares are gone and I am sleeping again…so progress.”

            “I’m glad,” John replied as he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. “I never meant for any of this to happen Eva. When you walked into that briefing room all those months ago I was upset because I thought I was finally getting over what had happened between us. I didn’t want to re-open that door just to be reminded how much of an asshole I had been.”

            “John…”

            “Then, when you disappeared, my heart stopped. I was anxious that I wouldn’t get you back. And it wasn’t because I feared having to explain it to Bartlett, but because of what it meant to me if I never saw you again, because I still love you.”

            “John, stop.” Eva started as she looked at her ex-husband. “You were not the only one who was apprehensive about me going to Atlantis. When President Santos and Jed came to me and told me about the job, it took them a good three days to talk me into it. I was all for it when they first offered it, but then when I saw that your name was attached, I changed my mind—pretty much for the same reason that you mentioned.

            “It took a long time for me to get to a place where I could say that I was over what had happened between us, but I think everyone knew that I wasn’t. Josh tried setting me up with a few different guys, but it never went past the first date and after the third attempt he stopped trying. I think he knew that I was still in love you…that I am still in love with you. That is something that is never going to change.”

           “So, what does all this mean?” John asked.

           “I’m not sure. What I do know, is that **_if_** we do want to make any attempt to moving on, we need to talk about what happened in the past.”

            “Do you mean the past in which I made a monumental egotistical mistake that ruined both of our lives?” John asked.

            “You aren’t the only one that was guilty of making mistakes that brought upon the end of our marriage, John. When you came home from your tour, after you found out that you were being charged, you asked me to give you some space and to leave it for you to handle.”

            “I just didn’t want it to seem like I was receiving any kind of special treatment because…”

            “You were married to a high ranking White House official,” Eva finished what John had started to say. “I know that. I knew it then, too. It was just hard to sit back and do nothing as I watched everything spiral out of control.”

           “To find out that you were having meetings behind my back after I told you to leave it alone, to be confronted with it by that reporter…”

           “And like your lawyer and I told you, we were never meeting about you behind your back. The first time we met in person was after the final decision had come down from the panel. The reason he was seen coming to the White House late at night was because he was dropping off papers from JAG office that needed to go straight to the Secretary of the Air Force. Josh and I just happened to be in Charlie’s office waiting for Bartlett who was meeting with the Secretary when he arrived.”

          “I know,” John told her. “I found out a couple of weeks after our fight.”

          “Then why didn’t you say anything?” Eva asked in bewilderment.

           “Because by then I thought it was already too late. Our divorce was already being finalized—I don’t know how you pulled that off that fast, and I was already in Antarctica. I figured that I had made too much of a mess of things. The one time I did call, Josh answered your phone and told me that if I called back Antarctica was going to seem like a dream posting.”

          “I’m going to murder Josh. He is always trying to play the protective big brother but he doesn’t realize how badly he would lose in a fight; I mean Charlie could beat him up.” They both laughed at that.

         “Don’t kill Josh,” John told her. “I don’t blame him for trying to protect you. The way I went about things was horrible, and I deserved a lot worse than what I got from Josh Lyman.”

        “I wouldn’t say anything like that in front of Jed Bartlett. He’ll make sure that something horrible happens to you just because.”

        As the two of them stood there with small smiles on their faces, it was if the stress and guilt of the last few years was suddenly lifted from their shoulders. John grabbed Eva’s arm and pulled her to him and into a hug. They stood there for several moments in a quiet embrace, his chin resting on the top of her head. Finally, after a few minutes, John was the one to break the silence.

       “If we are going to do this, this time we do right,” he started as he was still holding her. “Eva Ryan, will you go out with me tonight?”

        “I would love to John Sheppard. And I promise that this time, I won’t throw up on your shoes.”

         With that John threw his head back and laughed.

*****************

One Year Later….

 

        It had been just over a year since John Sheppard and Eva Ryan had reconciled while in New Hampshire. As they had agreed, they took their relationship slow this time—not that they had much of a choice at the beginning. John and his team had to return to Atlantis three days after their talk, but Eva had decided to remain behind in order to continue working with her therapist. In her own words to John, she was getting better but there was still a lot of work she needed to do in order to be herself again.

        For three months their relationship was a simple correspondence of letters back and forth to one another about what was happening. Eva detailed her  therapy and John told her about all his missions (the day to day gossip of what was going on in the city came from Laura Cadman, and was either confirmed or denied by Sam Carter or Teyla when they wrote to her.) She was sure that John underplayed the amount of danger that he was in or the amount of times that he had been injured, but she knew he did it because he did not want to worry her anymore than she already was.

       Three months after John had left her in New Hampshire, Eva pulled off a bit of a surprise when she unexpectedly appeared in the gate room when the Daedalus arrived on their scheduled supply run. To say that John was shocked was putting it mildly.

_“Colonel Sheppard, there is another delivery for you sir.” One of the Daedalus crew members said to him as he walked towards him with a clipboard. “You have to sign for this one personally though.”_

_“Okay,” John said a little apprehensively as he sat with Carter in her office going over the supply lists. He signed the form and was waiting when the crew member tapped his earpiece and told someone that they could ‘beam it down to Colonel Carter’s office’._

_John was pleasantly surprised when instead of a box appearing in the room, Eva stood there instead along with several suitcases._

_“Hi honey, I’m back!”_

        Eva had seamlessly returned to her role in Atlantis and the people had warmly welcomed her back. As time went on she and John spent more and more time together until they were essentially inseparable. (They also got a kick out of watching as, in Rodney’s words, Cadman had finally worn him down until they went out on a date…and then another and another and another until there was no denying that they were an official couple). While they worked on their relationship, they remembered to take it slowly; they knew that their mistake the first time around had been that they rushed into things and lacked communication—something that they did not want to repeat. Eva had continued her therapy once a week with the doctor on base, and John was always sure to join the last fifteen minutes of every session so that they were able to work on their relationship.

         By the time that she had been in the city for six months everyone felt that it was time to begin the interrogations. It didn’t matter where they were—at lunch, at the gym, off world— someone inevitably found away to ask John when he planned on proposing to Eva. (Typically John was able to turn it around and ask McKay when he planned on asking Cadman the same thing, but the scientist would usually turn pink and stutter). 

     After a few weeks of hounding, they gave up since they realized that they were not going to be receiving an answer anytime soon. Which is why they were pleasantly surprised one morning when John and Eva joined them for breakfast; John had a goofy grin on his face that Rodney found suspicious and was going to call him on, but his focus was quickly diverted when Cadman started squealing and grabbed their attention towards Eva’s hand. Or, more accurately to the diamond ring that was on Eva’s finger. 

 

 

      So this is how Eva found herself in her bedroom in New Hampshire almost exactly a year after she and John had renewed their relationship, standing in front of a full lengthen mirror. She was interrupted by a knock on the door.

      “Come in,” she said.

      “Are you ready?” Jed Bartlett’s voice sounded as he entered the room. “Everyone else is downstairs waiting for you.”

     “Yeah,” she said as she turned around as best as her dress would allow her to. “I guess I should have expected that small and low-key were not in Abby’s vocabulary. This,” she said as she used her hands to indicate the dress she wore and the set up outside, “is defiantly more than we had in mind when we said we wanted a small wedding here on the farm.”

     “Well, you did cheat us out of it the first time,” Jed said with a laugh. “You should have expected it when you told Abby that she could arrange everything and then not show up until the day before the ceremony.”

     Eva nodded in agreement. She and John had given free reign to her pseudo parents after picking a date, however they were simply expecting a priest to be there along with their friends to witness the ceremony. They had not expected the full, blown out wedding ceremony and reception that they had ended up.

     “If you are ready, we should go on down. Laura has told me that she has Ronon sitting on John until the start of the ceremony, and something tells me that she means that literally. Also, she makes the secret service a little nervous when she is left by herself for an extended period of time and I left her downstairs about three minutes ago.”

      “Heaven forbid my maid of honor make them nervous; they have more to fear from Rodney than from her. That man can probably make an atom bomb from scraps he can find in your barn.” Eva said has Jed led her down the stairs.

      They could hear the music playing as they got to the bottom of the stairs. Laura was standing there with a smile on her face and two bouquets in her hand.  She handed one over to Eva and gave her a hug before walking out the front door to join Rodney (the best-man) who was on the porch and walking down the aisle. The music changed to the wedding march and as the front door opened again Jed led Eva out. As she looked in front of her, her eyes connected with John’s. Neither one of them could take their eyes of the other, both wearing huge smiles as Eva got closer and closer until finally she was standing there holding his hand.

     “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today….”

 

 

 

 


End file.
